Through the cold and desolate night a lone, hooded, figure rested upon the ramparts to a large castle thumbing his hammer as he stood gazing at the sprawling town that lay before him.
Soon the silence broke as he heard footsteps accompanied by the murmuring of a child from behind him. A slight smile touched his lips as he felt an arm wrap around his waist and Katrina's familiar weight against his body. "Couldn't sleep?" Roran asked softly as not to disturb the child's sleep.
"No, Joash was crying and I didn't want to wake Ismira" said Katrina
They stood in silence, comfortable in each other's arms till a disturbance on the fringe of Carvahall drew Roran's steady gaze. He strode quickly to the ramparts edge as a mass of churning shadows worked its way through the tree line.
Suddenly his fears were confirmed as a scream tore from a watchman's lips as he fell to the ground with a dark shaft protruding from his chest. "Urgals!" Roran swore angrily "Katrina get the children to safety!"
The watchmen scrambled to sound the alarm as men tore from their houses half-clothed with spear or sword in hand corralling their families to the keep.
As Katrina scrambled inside with their child Roran sprinted to the grounds as he was met by Baldor, who was already waiting with his stead Snowfire. "Roran we must move quickly before those blasted monsters reach the keep!" he shouted
"Then let us ride!" He countered as he spurred Snowfire heavily along the flank. Quickly they wove their way through a torrent of terrified faces, gathering men as they went to the ragged lines of men slowly forming on the edge of Carvahall.
"To me!" Roran bellowed "To me!" a group of eighty or so men road behind him as he led them toward the fray. Mangled cries could be heard above the clash of steel as the dark hoard fell upon the unprepared villagers.
He stopped the group a hundred yards from the fighting as he spurred snowfire around to face his men. Quickly spotting Horst and shouted "Take half the men and flank them upon their left, I will take the rest and do the same on the right!"
After a curt nod he galloped away and Roran took off along the right coming within the view of the battlefield. His heart sank as he saw the horde dig mercilessly into their lines. With renewed vigor he dug his heels into Snowfire drawing blood.
The Urguls seeing their advance turned a block of 50 toward their charge letting out savage war cries as the two forces met.
Roran's vision dissolved into a haze of red has he cleaved into their lines.
Katrina
He swung his hammer in rapid succession with a resounding ring, killing any who came to close.
Katrina
A massive kull slammed into snowfire tossing him from his deadly perch. He hit the ground rolling and dove into a throng of several urgals dispatching them all with rapid taps from his hammer. He fought like an enraged bear but as he surveyed the field he knew they would not last. His heart sank as his family, friends, and neighbors fell around him, succumbing to the Urgals deadly bite.
With a savage cry he renewed his attack. They will not get to my wife and children. He thought as he dispatched another charging abomination. Suddenly his vision exploded with stars as it faded in and out of oblivion.
He felt his knees hit the wet ground slick with the blood of his companions. His hammer slipped from his grip and he felt tears run down his face cutting jagged lines in his gore streaked face. Katrina he thought one last time. Then the lights went out as he faded into the darkness beyond.
A scream tore from his lips as he shot out of bed across the room tearing Brisingr from its scabbard and cleaving his dresser in two.
He stood still in a cold sweat, chest heaving heavily. A single tear rolled down his face. "Little one" Saphira said softly as she gently nudged his chest with her snout.
His door burst open as Blödhgarm and another elf flew into the room. Blödhgarm started "Shadeslayer are you alright? We heard a commotion…" He was cut off by a low but menacing growl from Saphira as she slowly eased onto her hind legs as if to pounce on her prey.
The elves took the hint and bowed slightly murmuring "Shadeslayer…Brightscales" as they ushered out the room.
Saphira turned back to her partner of heart and mind and softly reached for his mind to find it surrounded by fear and doubt. She repeated this until he became aware of her presence and slowly lowered the barriers of his mind to her. "Little one what ails you" said Saphira
He remained silent Brisingr hanging loosely in his grip before he turned to her putting his hand on her snout and said "The same nightmare as always. Carvahall burning and my remaining family falling"
He stared into her large deep blue orbs before continuing "It felt so real…as if I was seeing it all through my own eyes"
"Do not worry, if any ill fate befell Roran or any of the others Arya would have contacted us" Saphira said gently
Pain gripped his heart at the mention of Arya. He fell back into memory as he stood aboard the Talita. The bend in the river approaching all too quickly as he turned to her "Arya" he had whispered along with her true name. She whispered his in response and before he could profess his love for her and beg her to come with him she placed three fingers upon his lips, bid him farewell and was snatched from the deck by her dragon Fírnen. She was gone and he was alone, GONE! He snapped back into reality as an immense wave of sadness flowed through his mental link from Saphira as she had shared in the memory.
Suppressing his feelings of sadness he forced himself across the room to his water basin and reaching into his flow of magic whispered the powerful words of scrying in the ancient language "draumr kópa". Roran appeared in a black, white backdrop and appeared to be sitting. He let out a sigh of relief and ended the spell.
He quickly dressed in a light green elven shirt and black breeches. He strapped Brisingr to his waist and as he was about to leave he turned back to his water basin and murmured barely audible the scrying spell, focusing on a mental image of Arya. As he suspected it came up blank as she was sure to have placed wards around her to protect her from prying eyes. He quickly ended the spell and departed outside where in two bounding leaps, scrambled up atop of Saphira.
"Shall we" she mused gently
Eragon allowed a wide grin to spread across his face. "Lets" said Eragon, and with that Saphira's powerful legs rippled with muscle as she launched herself from the earth and into the air in a tight spiral before leveling off.
Eragon let off a wild whoop as Saphira banked through a cluster of clouds, spreading his arms out as if to take it with him. He felt pure joy flow into him through him from his partner of heart and mind as he rarely felt so free and alive as he did while flying. Aside from being with Arya he thought. He quickly buried his sadness and thought of the day ahead.
From his perch he could view the Eastern Mountains they now called home. Though not as tall as the Beors back in the dwarven homeland they still knifed through the sky seamed to even graze the heavens themselves.
As Saphira wove her way through the snowcapped mountains Eragon recalled the journey to their new home.
They had spent weeks aboard the Talìta drifting along the Edda river though desolate plains seemingly devoid of life, aside from large packs of furry creatures the elves named bufla. They continued until they reached a fork in the river, on which flowed southeast and the other north, in which after much debate with the sane Eldunarí they decided to go north along the Víndor River toward the distant mountains. They continued on their course until one day Saphira went out hunting and came upon a grand mountain and at its base a grand valley that stretched out for leagues and was packed with beasts for the dragon hatch-lings to hunt. What Eragon liked the most was that the mountains resided an easy weeks flight from the eastern borders on Du Weldenvarden.
A light brush against his mind brought him back to reality and Saphira exclaimed "I got it!"
"And what is that?" Eragon asked
"A name for our new home" said Saphira smuggle
"Really now, might I hear it?" said Eragon
"We shall call it Skulblaka Nidum. The dragon nest"said Saphira who hummed with satisfaction
Eragon smiled and said "It's perfect" Saphira let out a roar of joy at her companion's approval. Eragon let out a laugh for how could he be sad when Saphira was with him. "Although we will have to clear it with the Eldunarí and other elves for they may not like it" said Eragon jokingly
"Bah, the elves would not dare deny me this if they enjoy walking about on two legs and the Eldunarí will approve" Saphira said confidently with an edge of arrogance that brought another bout of laughter at his dragons antics.
"I do believe they enjoy full use of their legs, besides it is a great name and I think this mountain will bare it proudly "said Eragon amused. At this Saphira let off another roar and settled into a hum of satisfaction.
Saphira glided gracefully over the valley, scales sparkling like a million gem stones in the sun, slowly banking off to her left and landed in a clearing at the base of Skulblaka Nidum where the elves had made their home among the trees. Their small city bore a striking resemblance to Ellesméra as its structures where sung out of the trees just like the elven city.
Waiting in the clearing for them where twenty-and-six elves, more had come since contacting Queen Arya with the new location of the rider's home. As they made their way to the group of elves Saphira reached out to them to share her idea for their new home.
The elves where delighted at her suggestion and took it whole heartedly as they joined hands and danced around Saphira filling the air with their pure, musical laughter only to stop as the air itself vibrated.
Thud.
The elves gazed expectantly at the peak of the mountain as if it had stolen something precious from them.
Thud. The air vibrated again and again as it picked up pace until a chorus of earth shattering roars filled the air and a thunder of dragons tore down the sky.